Liberty One Investment Management LLC Buys New Position in Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC

Liberty One Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 98,619 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,076,000. Northrop Grumman comprises approximately 3.4% of Liberty One Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Soundwatch Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the second quarter worth $6,457,274,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 2nd quarter valued at $491,985,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 11.8% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,933,061 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,466,472,000 after buying an additional 308,680 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 49,898.2% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 169,494 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $84,744,000 after buying an additional 169,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,421,645 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $6,710,554,000 after buying an additional 155,344 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NOC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $662.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $700.00 price target on shares of Northrop Grumman and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $650.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $727.00 price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $575.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.18.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NOC stock opened at $629.68 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $89.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.65, a PEG ratio of 5.02 and a beta of 0.05. The business has a 50 day moving average of $571.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $573.68. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 52 week low of $426.24 and a 52 week high of $640.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The aerospace company reported $7.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.43 by $1.24. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.49% and a net margin of 9.82%.The business had revenue of $10.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $7.00 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2025 guidance at 25.650-26.050 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.05 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st were given a dividend of $2.31 per share. This represents a $9.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 33.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mark A. Welsh III sold 97 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $564.08, for a total value of $54,715.76. Following the sale, the director directly owned 4,281 shares in the company, valued at $2,414,826.48. The trade was a 2.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $615.00, for a total transaction of $1,845,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 191,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $117,835,230. This represents a 1.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,097 shares of company stock valued at $6,099,716. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Profile

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) is a leading U.S.-based aerospace and defense company that designs, builds and sustains advanced systems, products and technologies for government and commercial customers. Formed through the combination of Northrop and Grumman businesses in the 1990s, the company’s portfolio spans manned and unmanned aircraft, space systems, missile defense, radar and sensor systems, and integrated command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) solutions.

The company’s work includes airframe and platform manufacturing, space hardware and satellite systems, advanced mission systems and cybersecurity services, as well as logistics, sustainment and modernization programs.